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Tyndmyr
2010-09-05, 09:40 AM
In D&D 3.5, how would you build the ideal item crafter? Assuming craft points are in use, obviously, since that's a helpful variant, and the ability to use xp from others.

In short, how would a dedicated item crafter optimize his ability to make money? It seems like a reasonably common goal in any realistic world.

liquid150
2010-09-05, 09:42 AM
1. Be an artificer.
2. Have a dedicated wright.
3. ???
4. Profit!

Tyndmyr
2010-09-05, 09:59 AM
Artificer is definitely filled with win in eberron, as the ability to craft things two levels higher than you is all kinds of awesome. If artificer isn't available, I'm guessing the humble wizard comes in next.

Craft Wonderous Item is probably the best feat. Works on ever so many items. Craft Arms and Armor is probably next.

Hmm, E6 might sorta change the playing field. If that's in play, certain feats are just inaccessible.

liquid150
2010-09-05, 10:07 AM
Artificer is definitely filled with win in eberron, as the ability to craft things two levels higher than you is all kinds of awesome. If artificer isn't available, I'm guessing the humble wizard comes in next.

Craft Wonderous Item is probably the best feat. Works on ever so many items. Craft Arms and Armor is probably next.

Hmm, E6 might sorta change the playing field. If that's in play, certain feats are just inaccessible.

Also, depending what level you're going to hit, Warlock can actually be a good crafter.

jiriku
2010-09-05, 10:10 AM
Warlocks and archivists probably beat the wizard in crafting efficiency, since they can emulate or cast a larger list of spells. The wizard's only edge is having bonus feats to dedicate to the task of learning how to craft.

Craft Potion, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, and Craft Arms and Armor are probably your best bets, because they can all be used to craft items that sell for between 25gp and 375gp. You don't want to make anything that costs over 1,000gp at any rate, to keep your production time down to one day per item. Your goal will be to find a market where you can sell these really cheap items in quantity, because with the lack of fluidity in a hard cash currency and the general poverty of 95% of the world's population, you're going to have a real hard time finding customers who can regularly pay four and five figures for an item (and an even harder time finding places where you can spend such sums on anything you would want).

Naturally, you want to live in the largest and wealthiest city in the world that isn't going to tax away your profits, and you want to cultivate relationships among the city's elite, because nobles and merchant kings and their families are your primary customers.

Alternately, you could establish a patronage relationship with a wealthy noble, like a Middle-Ages artisan. Essentially, you'll sit on your duff all day or work on your own projects while he pays your bills, but when he commissions a work from you, you're expected to drop everything and make his magic items to order.

Tyndmyr
2010-09-05, 10:25 AM
Agreed, cheap, widely usable items are key. Potions of CLW or Everburning Torches are going to be extremely saleable compared to the expensive things.

The real target market for high end crafters are adventurers and rulers. Both markets are extremely limited, and while profitable, are frequently difficult to deal with.

I believe some feats exist to reduce the cost of making magic items...that might be of great assistance...anyone know where they are?

Edit: Found em. Extraordinary Artisan, from Eberron CS. Reduces gold cost of item creation by 25%. You can gain this feat multiple times, and it's effects stack. This is interesting...how do they stack? If you take it four times, are items you craft now free?

JeminiZero
2010-09-05, 11:21 AM
I once postulated that a 18 Archivist/2 Chameleon could learn any spell in the game. (Switch Chameleon bonus feat to Extra Spell Known, scribe spell into divine scroll, switch bonus feat to something else, copy divine scroll back to prayerbook). You do need some sanctum spell abuse to use Extra Spell Known to gain level 9 spells though.

I imagine in this case that the floating bonus feat could also be used to pick up item crafting feats as well. If you want a guy who can craft *anything*, this would probably be it.

If however, your goal is money, than you will probably want to aim for mass production of stuf that doesn't burn XP to produce. Masterwork Equipment, Alchemical weapons, maybe even Artwork and the like. So long as you splash at least 1 rank in the requisite skill, you can use spells like Guidance of the Avatar, Moment of Prescience and Surge of Fortune, to push your skill check to extremely high levels. Add on Fabricate for mass production.

Vemynal
2010-09-05, 11:28 AM
Your spell levels are a bit lower and you won't have access to 9th level spells but I've always preferred the:

Wizard/Archivist/Mystic Theurge

Because the Archivist can learn Druid spells as well as Cleric spells you can nearly craft any and all items in the game

Escheton
2010-09-05, 01:53 PM
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7274.0

You don't need too use all of it, but this thread is the beez kneez of craftcutting.

liquid150
2010-09-05, 06:41 PM
Edit: Found em. Extraordinary Artisan, from Eberron CS. Reduces gold cost of item creation by 25%. You can gain this feat multiple times, and it's effects stack. This is interesting...how do they stack? If you take it four times, are items you craft now free?

No, the feats stack multiplicatively, not additively, if they stack at all (see below post).

If you're interested in REALLY getting stuff cheap, look at this. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7274.0)

Edit: bah, ninja'd.

FelixG
2010-09-05, 06:43 PM
Agreed, cheap, widely usable items are key. Potions of CLW or Everburning Torches are going to be extremely saleable compared to the expensive things.

The real target market for high end crafters are adventurers and rulers. Both markets are extremely limited, and while profitable, are frequently difficult to deal with.

I believe some feats exist to reduce the cost of making magic items...that might be of great assistance...anyone know where they are?

Edit: Found em. Extraordinary Artisan, from Eberron CS. Reduces gold cost of item creation by 25%. You can gain this feat multiple times, and it's effects stack. This is interesting...how do they stack? If you take it four times, are items you craft now free?

They are not meant to stack, that was fixed in the Errata, typo on their part.

Gavinfoxx
2010-09-05, 07:02 PM
If no Artificer, than Archivist 10 / Runecaster 10, with the following feats:

Scribe Scroll
Legendary Artisan
Extraordinary Artisan
Craft Wondrous Item
Inscribe Rune
Craft Magic Arms and Armor
Craft Scepter
Craft Rod
Sanctify Relic
Forge Ring

Morithias
2010-09-05, 07:19 PM
Take a feat that gives you knowledge (religion) as a class skill, and make sure you're evil.

Now by using the sacrifice rules in BOVD, you can kill commoners to get free crafting gold and xp, take enough time and you can make magical items for free!

Oh and play a warforged so you don't have to worry about aging.

Randel
2010-09-05, 07:20 PM
I think its Faith of Eberron (or maybe Races of Eberron, one of those Eberron books) where there is a 2nd level spell called "Unseen Crafter"

Its basically an unseen servant that crafts mundane items for 1day/level and can take ten on craft checks.

So, you can just put enough points into craft skills to make the items you need by taking 10, then cast Unseen Crafter several times to convert every spell slot 2nd level or above into a workforce. Crafting basically triples the value of the incoming raw materials so you can make money that way. Then invest the profit into getting some 2nd level Pearls of Power which increases the number of Unseen Crafters you can have going per day.

Thus, as long as you can get the raw materials for mundane items, sell the results, and invest the profit into getting new Pearls of Power to cast more fabrication spells then you can gradually increase productivity near-exponentially. Then, at the end of the day you'll have lots of Pearls of Power which you can use to cast spells with... so you can convert them into more castings of 2nd or 1st level spells if you need to do something else.

Tyndmyr
2010-09-05, 08:23 PM
They are not meant to stack, that was fixed in the Errata, typo on their part.

Ah, this makes more sense.

Though typo seems a shoddy explanation, given that the footnote reference was given just for crafting feats, and for ALL the cost reduction crafter feats.

Edit: Good tip on the invisible crafter. Races of Eberron it is!